Catching up with the quick links

I tend to post a lot of stuff on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, and then I’m not sure if y’all see it. Here are some of the best links I came across recently, for those who prefer their vegan shenanigans WordPress-style.

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4 thoughts on “Catching up with the quick links”

could you explain the one about the water consumption of producing one pound of meat, I don’t understand what I am looking for. I did not know that to produce one pound of meat that cows pigs and chickens retained so much water, I guess they never pee. I thought they got alot of their water from the grasses they ate too? I also understand they eat grasses in areas where crops will not grow without extensive irrigation.

It’s because just like us, non-human animals have to drink a lot of water every day. They do pee it out, but it’s been used and is no longer just water anymore, so it does count as water use. To minimize the resources needed to raise animals, they’re usually genetically modified to become larger extremely quickly, and are killed when they’re still very young. Here’s more info: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/jan/10/how-much-water-food-production-waste

I dont know but I can’t imagine that we have a finite amount of water on the planet, considering animals and people have consumed water for thousands of years nad the water hasn’t gone anywhere. it is still here it gets recycled. call it rain, snow melt whatever it gets replensied. many areas cannot grow crops without irrigation and much of that water is wasted to run off and evaporation, but it doens’t go anywhere. it usually comes back in the form of rain and snow melt, not unless that water is diverted, no reason to argue about raising animals vs plants, plants just don’t have the nutrient density like animal protein and fats (not that I eat alot of meat myself) but if you want to discuss the bad management of animal husbandry where they give animals steriods and the like well I am all for them not doing that. grass fed is best. I dont go for inhuman care and slaughter. but growing animals is not worse then growing plants material considering how much pesticides and herbicide you need to produce enough caloires for a population, you don’t need pesticides for animals, there are natural methods of worming, better care would mean less worming needed. personally I like both animal and plants for eating and for their own beauty, I remember when I had goats (they were pets not for food) they ate things that i wouldn’t ever be able to eat and eat plants that were invasive and crowds out more beneficial plants. of course I had to watch they didn’t get my flowers, lol. cows and sheep are the same they eat things you and I cannot. for example I can’t eat poison ivy, can you? my goats and horses could, I couldn’t eat virignia creeper but my goats loved it, I could eat alot of these plants around here some were downright posinous, but my goats could sometimes my horse would too. cattle (a grouping of all animals with four stomachs that are grown for food) are able to use foods we can’t eat, and they get alot of their water from the food. how much water do pleasure animals use? horses, for example my horses drank alot of water, so since they did does that mean i should not have had horses then even for pets/or food? so i was wasting water then? so do you see my point? whether you waste as a pet or food makes no difference water is used recycled and reused again, provide good management is practiced.

It’s wonderful that grazing animals can eat things we can’t eat – it’s very healthy for them and a good use of resources. They should drink all the water they need, too, that’s great. What I have a problem with is people breeding and confining animals to satisfy our needs for labor, entertainment, food, clothing, and so on. They are their own beings, not objects for us to use. We may be powerful enough to dominate and use them, but that doesn’t make it right. Mind you, I didn’t use to believe that – I grew up eating animals. But I educated myself about how much more efficient it would be for us to eat plants, and I began to practice nonviolence in my life, and so I went vegan. It was uncomfortable at first, but now my only regret is that I didn’t figure it out sooner!

That said, we’re talking about science here, math. Yes, animal urine is recycled into the water system. That doesn’t change the fact that when you consume animals and animal products, you’re consuming a vast amount of embodied energy, far vaster than if you were eating lower on the food chain. If I eat a pound of corn, I get all the calories from that pound of corn. To make that pound of corn, 50 gallons of water were needed. If I eat a pound of hamburger meat, I use 450 gallons of water, and many, many calories of corn were lost, because they had to be fed to this cow, who had to inefficiently convert it into muscle mass before I would eat it. Wouldn’t it be a far more efficient use of resources, and a far less violent way of life, if I instead chose to eat the pound of corn?

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A Brief History of the saree blouse and Indian fashion before 1960 with an occasional excursion after. All images are credited but if they are here by accident please do let me know and I will take it down. All posts also on vintageindianclothing.tumblr.com